Congratulations to Carol Black who receivedThe Pesticide Stewardship Alliance Presents 2016 Program Innovation Award. The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance (TPSA) held its annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico earlier this month where two awards were presented. Black has focused her efforts to improve the quality and accuracy of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) labelling and outreach resources for pesticide handlers. There has been a disconnect between exposure studies and risk assessments which inform label language, that has resulted in a lack of consistency in PPE recommendations. Carol Black, with co-workers Anugrah Shaw and Courtney Harned, has developed a path forward for pesticide education programs, registrants, and the EPA to reconsider a system that has been in place for more than 30 years. Carol’s innovative concept, her passion and courageous approach to this important subject will have a positive impact on pesticide safety education programs throughout North America. Allan Hovis, Bayer Crop Science was the recipient of the President’s Award. The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance (TPSA), founded in 2000, is an organization of federal, state and local governmental agencies, educational and research institutions, public organizations, private corporations and individuals that are actively involved in different aspects of pesticide stewardship. The goals of TPSA are to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and longevity of various pesticide stewardship efforts. Go to the TPSA web site for more information.

Sharon J. Collman, (Extension Educator and adjunct faculty member in the Entomology Department), founding member of theWSU Master Gardener Programhas been invited to be the keynote speaker at the Purdue Master Gardener Annual Conference in June, 2016. Collman began her WSU career working on this pilot program in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties in 1973. The program has now been adopted in 50 states in the U.S. Affiliate programs have been established in six Canadian Provinces, in England, Korea and elsewhere in the world. Sharon is an adjunct faculty member in the Entomology Department and has taught classes in integrated pest management, plant problem diagnosis, insect ID and appreciation, beneficial insects in the landscape throughout the PNW and in Canada and England. She has authored over 75 publications and received numerous awards for her educational programs.

The next Entomology Spring 2016 Colloquium presentation will be on Wednesday, March 2, 2016, in FSHN 354 at 12:10-1:00. Our speaker will be Katja Poveda, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University. Her presentation is titled “The Power of the Insects: Effects of Local and Landscape Scale Diversity on Crop Productivity.” For more info about her go to: https://entomology.cals.cornell.edu/people/katja-poveda. The AMS dial # 5704020

Facilities Operations will be testing the fire alarm system in the FSHN Building on March 3rd. This testing will affect the building fan systems intermittently, as they are being tested during the scheduled time period. During the fire alarm system testing, the fire alarm audible and visual signals in the building will be activated in 3-short bursts to indicate that the testing is in progress. The alarm devices will then be activated continuously while operation of each device is verified. When testing is complete the alarms will again be sounded for 3-short bursts to signal that testing is complete. You are not required to leave the building during the test period. However, if you choose to remain in the building you may wish to wear hearing protection.

Crimson Reads Submission Open: In March 2016 the WSU Libraries will host the 3rd annual Crimson Reads: A Celebration of WSU Authors. Submissions for authored/co-authored or edited books (including eBooks) published between January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 are now being accepted. Deadline for submissions is Saturday, February 26, 2016. SeeCriteria for Submission for details on eligible works and/or submit your work. More information on the event can be found on the WSU Showcase website: https://showcase.wsu.edu/crimson-reads/. We invite the academic community to identify the work — whether their own or by their peers — that deserves special acknowledgment. By highlighting the intellectual work of faculty, staff, students and alumni across the disciplines, we aim to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation, as well as to say thanks for a job well done.

Entomology Department Research Awards: March 1 will be the deadline for our 2016 “Student of the Year” and “Paper of the Year” award submissions. These two awards will be respectively supported by the Robert and Mary Lou Harwood and Howard and Hermina Hallgarth scholarship endowments. The “Student of the Year” award will be given in recognition of the student’s academic achievements and scholarly service contributions. The “Paper of the Year” be awarded in recognition an exceptional manuscript with a student as lead author. For consideration of the Paper of the Year award, the paper must be accepted for publication or has appeared in print over the 12 months preceding the March 30 application deadline. Application for this award includes an additional requirement: A copy of the manuscript, along with a copy of the letter (email) from the journal indicating the paper has been accepted for publication. There will also be two graduate fellowship research awards from the Erret Deck Fellowship. These fellowships will support expansion of a student’s research project.

Coug Health fair 2016 is coming soon! Join us on Thursday, March 3, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the CUB Senior Ballroom for free health screenings, raffle prizes and a blood drive! Brought to you by Health & Wellness Services and Cougar Health Awareness Team (CHAT). Coug Health Fair is your opportunity to connect with campus and community partners for info and resources to help you live well. Find out more at hws.wsu.edu.

The next Provost Office Bagels and Brainstorming session will be on March 4, 2016 at 8:00 AM in CUE 518. Presenters will be Rebecca Van de Vord and Fran Hermanson. The presentation is titled: Understanding the Student Success Collaborative Platform as a Tool to Improve Retention.

The Washington State University, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences Presents: Three Minute Thesis Competition. Proposal Deadline is Friday March 4, 2016. 2-3 PM for MS and 3:4:30 PM for PhD at the Ensminger Pavilion. CAHNRS competition winners will move on to the University-wide competition on March 22, 2016.

The SARE Professional Development Program (PDP) is now accepting mini-grant applications for both attending a professional development event and hosting a sustainable agriculture professional development event. Grant amounts have been increased from prior years to better accommodate the needs of applicants, in response to a survey of eligible ag professionals. Also, as a result of the survey, priority will be given to program staff for “Attending” grants, and to “Hosting” grants that target a Conservation District audience. Please read the RFP carefully; it has changed. Please see the SARE PDP Program page for more information and for application instructions. Applications will be screened after March 24th, or until funds are exhausted.

May Berenbaum will be a guest speaker at Gonzaga University in Spokane on March 21st at 7:30 PM in the Hemmingson Center Ballroom on the Gonzaga Campus. She will also be giving a scientific lecture the next day. Her talk is titled Apis-Pocalypse Now: Can Science Save the Honey Bee? This presentation is part of the 30th Annual Timothy J. O’Leary Lecture event. She is the Swanlund Professor of Entomology and head of the Entomology Department at the Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Berenbaum was the 1999 E. Paul Catts Lecture speaker here in our Department. She is a recipient of the 2014 National Medal of Science in biological sciences and the editor of eight books. To learn more about Dr. Berenbaum go to http://www.life.illinois.edu/entomology/faculty/berenbaum.html

Register now to attend the Celebrating Excellence Recognition Banquet on Friday, March 25. Reservations will be accepted through Friday, March 18, at http://showcase.wsu.edu.

Celebrating Excellence honors the outstanding achievements of WSU faculty and staff. The newest recipients of the Eminent Faculty Award, the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards, the President’s Employee Excellence Awards, the President’s Distinguished Teaching Awards for Non-Tenure Track Faculty, the Emeritus Society Legacy of Excellence Award, the Faculty Diversity Award, the Association for Faculty Women Samuel H. Smith Leadership Award, and the presenter of the Distinguished Faculty Address are honored at this banquet. This year’s newly tenured and promoted faculty, and new patent awardees are also honored during this special evening. Price is $40/person. Please plan to attend and support your colleagues. Please contact University Events at 509-335-4737 or wsuevent@wsu.edu with any questions.

The USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge Grants Program will be accepting applications until April 22, 2016. There are $4,500,000 available to fund programs. Eligibility: Applications may be submitted by: (a) U.S. public or private nonprofit colleges and universities offering a baccalaureate or first professional degree in at least one discipline or area of the food and agricultural sciences; (b) land-grant colleges and universities, (including land grant institutions in the Insular Areas); (c) colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments and a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences; and (d) other colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences. Description: Projects supported by the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program will: (1) address a State, regional, national, or international educational need; (2) involve a creative or non-traditional approach toward addressing that need that can serve as a model to others; (3) encourage and facilitate better working relationships in the university science and education community, as well as between universities and the private sector, to enhance program quality and supplement available resources; and (4) result in benefits that will likely transcend the project duration and USDA support. Link to Additional Information:

The Graduate School has announced the 6th Annual Global Case Competition. This competition brings student’s together to develop innovative interdisciplinary solutions to complex global issues facing each of us in today’s world. Registration opens February 1, 2016. Teams of 4 to 6 students work together under a strict timeline to develop an innovative solution to the selected case. Judging the solution occurs in 2 stages. Teams present their solutions in a 2-page written solution. Expert judges evaluate each solution and the top-5 teams are selected as finalists. Each of the finalist teams presents a solution in a public forum. Judges hear each solution and pose questions to the respective teams before selecting a winner. To learn about GCC visit this webpage: https://ip.wsu.edu/on-campus/overview-schedule/

*March 1, 2016 will be the deadline for our 2016 Research scholarship applications: “Student of the Year” and “Paper of the Year” award submissions.

Faculty-led Workshop: Writing for Gen. 1.5Graduate students are invited to join in on a series of workshops designed for teaching and instruction. Offered by the WSU Teaching Academy and Global Campus, these workshop topics present a wide range of relevant topics:

March 8: Flipping the Classroom: Lessons Learned

March 29: First-generation Students on the College Campus

April 21: Establishing a Culture of Academic Integrity

The workshops are free and refreshments provided. Sign up for the sessions held in CUE 518, or the live streamed session. Register for any of the tutorials >> more here.

Spring 2016 Commencement will be held Saturday May 7, 2016 at the Beasley Coliseum. The CAHNRS ceremony begins at 11:30 (lineup is at 11:00am). Student may register to walk and pick up their cap and gown at the Grad Fair held March 23-24, 2016 in the Lewis Alumni Centre! Faculty registration begins March 1.